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Emergency Rental Assistance Appropriation

YES, this is good for Idaho Children

Letter Sent to JFAC on January 23, 2023:
 

ICAP supports the Supplemental Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) funding.


Every day, Idahoans are struggling to financially support their families due to circumstances
outside of their control. You have an opportunity to relieve some of these burdens by voting to
take up the last $15M of rental assistance to mitigate the negative impacts of housing instability,
eviction, and homelessness being felt across the state, in rural as well as urban areas.

 

If this vote does not happen by the end of January 2023, which is one week away, many
Idahoans, including children, will become housing insecure and/or evicted and homeless.
Idaho’s children are disproportionally impacted by housing instability and will benefit greatly
from emergency rental assistance. Many of these low income renters are families with children.

 

The impacts of housing instability, evictions, and homelessness follow children for the rest of
their lives. Children facing housing instability are more likely to be suspended from school, drop
out early, and have lower test scores. ERA would ultimately support the mental health of
children (and later as adults) as a “preventative” of both mental and physical illness.  We know
that adversity in childhood (where homelessness would be agreed upon as an “adversity”) is
directly linked to higher prevalence of mental and physical illness in childhood and beyond. 
This is bad. 

 

Emergency rental assistance helps families with children regain financial stability, which
creates positive ripple effects throughout the families and their communities.

 

Please approve the emergency Supplemental Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA), as It is good
for Idaho’s Kids!

 

Sincerely,
Advisory Board


Patricia Kempthorne

Jarom Wagoner

John Rusche, MD
Christopher Streeter,
MD

Cristina Abuchaibe, DO
Cindy Wilson

Chris Loucks, PhD

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